Losing Hope
by unaagi
Summary: GwenxArthur. Their relationship can never be anything than mere friends. They both know it, and yet they still struggle to stay away from each other. But when Arthur reveals a shocking news, will it be the final stage that breaks their relationship apart?


**Authors note: I love Merlin (the show). I think Bradley James is the most gorgeous things my eyes ever did see, and although I dislike Gwen's character personally, I don't think that the relationship between Arthur and Gwen is expressed enough in the show though. **

**NOTE: I live in Australia, so season 3 has only recently started here. This story isn't really meant to be accurate with what's going on at the moment with the TV show itself, but please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, the TV show or the story line. I'm not genius enough for that.**

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><p>"Stupid clothes!"Gwen grunted out angrily as she roughly hung the shirt unto the rope.<p>

It was deep into the night, and almost everyone in Camelot was fast asleep. Everyone of course except dear, pathetic Guinevere ,whose only job seemed to be hanging the laundry and feeding the neighbourhood, stray dog.

Ever since Lady Morgana had diverted into the 'dark' side, she had been lacking in chores and things to do around Camelot. She thought the day would never come where she would wish herself to be doing some sort of laundry or cleaning. Thankfully for her, that time seemed to arrive right then, disrupting her deep sleep.

It was one of the knights who had awkwardly come knocking at her door. She awoke, groggy and grumpy. Her curly brown hair was in an even more tangled mess than it usually was, and her eyes hardly had the strength to stay open. Once she had opened the door, the awkward knight informed her that Prince Arthur demanded that she hung his laundry right there and then.

She looked at him weirdly before closing the door and walking back to her bed. But of course once the 'highness' has spoken, no one can deny their orders.

After a few more loud knocks and some awkward pleas from the hesitant and guilty knight, Gwen complied to Arthur's orders. She grabbed her robe and marched out the door, past the knight, grabbing the basket of laundry on her way. She could hear the soft apologies of the knight from behind her, but she was too sour to even respond.

After a few more angry mumbles and a swear word here or there, she finally reached the place where the clothes line hung. She roughly grabbed the wet clothes in her hands and shoved them unto the line, making it droop and sag terribly.

_Stupid freaking Prince. _

She thought grumpily to herself. She must admit, she had strong feelings for Arthur, and she had a slight thought that he might have some feelings for her too, but that didn't deny him of his arrogance and pride. If anything, that was one of the very few flaws that drove Gwen furious. Oh, and the fact that he was a prince, and she was nothing of the noble sort.

It was a petty and pathetic feud that continued to rage in her head, half of her thoughts lingered terribly long on Arthur and his handsome traits. But the other thoughts yelled at her, and told her to stop being so naive. She was Gwen and he was a Prince. As stupid as it sounded, they could never be, and it was exhausting to delay anymore thoughts about him.

But then just as Gwen herself was about to drop the subject of Arthur, who should come gallivanting from out of the dark, night fog, but Arthur himself.

He looked so noble as he came out of the darkness. You could hardly see any detailed features of his face in the dark, but you could see his sweet smile. It wasn't a small or closed smile, it was open and beautiful. His eyes seemed to glitter and stand out in contrast to his golden, blonde hair, and his chiselled cheeks and majestic pose only added heavily to his undeniable beauty.

Gwen couldn't help it, Arthur was just Arthur, and she'd just have to put up with her feelings for him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a snappy tone. Much more different to the honeyed voices that rang in her head, she continued to savour Arthur's smile as he spoke.

"Just checking up on you." He said with a slight shrug.

He bent down, picked up a piece of laundry and hung it on the clothes line, all the while keeping his eyes on Gwen.

"You shouldn't be-"

She started, reaching out for the piece of laundry in Arthur's hand, before she suddenly stopped.

"Wait a second..." She began.

"You should be doing this! You sent me out here in the middle of the night to do your laundry. I can't believe you!" She snapped at him angrily, grabbing the piece of laundry from his hands and then throwing it in his face.

She crossed her arms against her chest and huffed angrily to herself, before turning around and walking swiftly back towards her house.

She hoped desperately that Arthur would grab her and turn her back around.

Suddenly she felt Arthur's hand grab her arm; he turned her around and laughed graciously in her face.

"What's so funny?" She asked, struggling to keep her serious face, when all she really wanted to do was smile at the sound of his laughter.

"Merlin told me to ask you to do your washing." He said exhaustedly between his fits of laughter.

"Oh yeah, and because Merlin asked you to do it, it makes it all okay now, right?" Gwen replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes to complete the effect.

"No, no. Merlin told me that you told him that you were getting bored recently. What with Morgana's absence and such, and he said that you could use a few chores to do, so I don't know, I guess I was helping out?" He said weakly.

At this point Gwen noticed that his hand was still on her arm, and that same spot had become mysteriously heated in the past few seconds. She was so concentrated on his touch, that she could almost, almost feel his pulse against her collar bone. Either it was really his pulse, or just her driven imagination.

"So you choose to ask me to do the chores, in the middle of the night?" She asked, already feigning interest in the topic.

She didn't really care about the fact that she was woken up so abruptly, now that Arthur was there. All she could really think about was his hand on her arm; she started obsessing over it, like it was an unstoppable force that caused her to concentrate on such things. It was stupid really, and pathetic, but she honestly didn't mind it at all.

"Well no, I asked that guard to ask you ages ago, like earlier in the afternoon. But I guess it must've slipped his mind, and he only remembered about it now. I really am sorry though." He said with a smile.

He didn't look sorry, he looked amused.

"How did you know though, that I was out here?"

"I saw you from my window." He replied back, his gaze suddenly shifting to his hand, which had now grown extremely heated against Gwen's shoulder. He abruptly pulled it away, leaving Gwen slightly disappointed.

Thank God for the darkness of the night to conceal her disappointment. Arthur then turned around and grabbed another piece of laundry, kindly helping her to place it on top of the clothes line. Gwen took a moment of amusement, watching Arthur struggle to find the pegs to hold the clothes on the rope, before he suddenly realised that they sat right in front of him, hanging mockingly on the piece of rope.

She smiled at his incoherence for a second before suddenly realising something.

"Why were you awake?"

"Huh?" Arthur replied, with pegs in his mouth. He struggled furiously to shove the peg unto the clothes line, with the piece of cloth attached. It was absurd really, someone who could fight down a whole group of men, blindfolded, couldn't even work out a simple chore.

It was just another moment to exaggerate their differences really. Another reminder of how different their worlds really were. Gwen gulped back the tears that suddenly stung her eyes as she thought of this; she decided to push this at the back of her mind before continuing the conversation.

"Why were you still awake? You said you saw me through the window, you must've been still awake."

Arthur stopped for a moment, and looked down at the ground as if recalling a bad memory.

"Yeah... uh, I was. I was thinking." He concluded, not meeting Gwen's eyes.

Gwen noticed how things suddenly got more serious. Arthur was in no doubt, hiding something from her. A million thoughts ran through her mind, possibilities of what could possibly be so wrong, that he couldn't tell her straight. Her imagination went to horrific for her to handle so instead she decided to blank out her thoughts.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked, hoping desperately to get to the bottom of all this mystery soon.

Arthur looked at her finally, a small smirk appearing slowly on his face. He raised his eyebrows at her as if to ask sarcastically: _Really? You don't know?_

She blushed at his look, and couldn't help but let out a giddy laugh before cocking her head slightly and pleading with her eyes to tell him.

"People." He finally replied, still smiling, though his eyes diverted sadly back to the ground.

Gwen took a long deep breath and walked slowly towards him. She placed a hand tenderly on his shoulder and pushed her forehead softly against his hair. She could almost feel the heaviness of his emotions bringing her down with him. His face looked long and his eyes were distant and shallow.

"Tell me what's wrong." She said softly and gently.

Arthur didn't respond, he kept his eyes away from Gwen's. He shifted a little, bowing his head lower. Gwen could hear some soft whimpering that stirred within his chest and her heart ached to know what was bothering him so much.

"Please Arthur." She begged once more.

"Nothing Gwen, okay?" He finally shouted at her in a sudden burst of anger.

His blaring and frustrated voice echoing through the empty castle grounds, only Gwen and a few of the horses in the stables seemed to stir at his reactions.

His eyes quickly softened as they stared at Gwen's frightened expression.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, bowing his head down in shame.

"I didn't mean to shout."

He scratched his head vigorously in frustration and angst and then began to pace for a few seconds. As he paced his hands started to get fidgety, his eyes uneasy and his face shrouded with a look of utter torment.

Gwen stood back and watched she had never seen him like this except before a war or a battle, where he would constantly pace, murmuring the battle plans softly to himself. He had once confided in her about these constant fears that haunted him every time before he went on the battle field.

He seemed to fear for his men more than himself really, which spoke both arrogance and nobility in his favour.

It seemed that the war he had to face with now lay within himself. And inside his own thoughts he was alone, he had no one but his own thundering and trepid voices to pursue him.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks; he looked at Gwen and gave her an uneasy and uncomfortable grimace. He sighed heavily and turned around to face her, all the while biting his lip in frustration.

"I need to tell you something Gwen." He began, moving closer towards her.

He seemed terribly hesitant and slightly afraid. As he came closer towards her, Gwen could see the tears that had filled in his eyes, and yet he continued to blink them back, straining his face.

"What's it about?" Gwen asked innocently, looking up at Arthur with a quizzical expression.

He seemed to flinch as he look down at her, as if her expression wasn't making it easier for him to spit out what he had to say. He gulped nervously and shook his head in denial. His anxiety and torment was obvious in his actions, and all Gwen wanted to do was give him peace.

"Spit it out Arthur!" She snapped at him, her words were said with both anger and sympathy.

She hated seeing him like this.

He finally looked at her, slowly and solemnly. His eyes were bloodshot with tears that he had desperately denied. He moved towards her and took her hand in his, holding it loosely. Her heart broke a little at this action. He then took another deep breath, before uttering the words that broke Gwen's heart.

"I'm getting married Gwen."

He then dropped her hand, and she dropped all the hope that she had ever placed on him.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! Should I continue this story? Make it a LONGER story? Or leave it as it is? <strong>


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